Man slashed his wrists at Bestival after taking a ‘legal high’

A man died at last year’s Bestival after taking a ‘legal high’ which caused him to suffer a paranoid reaction and slash his wrists, a coroner has ruled.

Daniel Parks, 35, from Tunbridge Wells, attended the festival on the Isle of Wight in September 2012 with his wife. As The Times reports, he took a substance he bought online called ‘Magic Crystals’. The inquest in Newport heard that the legal high actually contained a class-B drug believed to be 4-Methylethcathinone, which is similar to mephedrone.

The inquest heard that that Parks had a paranoid reaction to the drug. He was found by his wife, Ceri, after locking himself in their camper van’s toilet and inflicting several deep wounds on his lower arms with a kitchen knife. He was taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Newport where he died as a result of the loss of blood caused by the cuts.

The inquest heard that Parks had dabbled with legal highs before attending Bestival last year, most notably in April 2012 when he suffered an adverse reaction, resulting in an emergency admission to hospital.